National Coral Reef Monitoring Program

Climate Monitoring Brief: Dry Tortugas National Park


New Subsurface Temperature Recorder depolyed at White Shoal in Dry Tortugas National Park

New Subsurface Temperature Recorder depolyed at White Shoal in Dry Tortugas National Park


Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory Coral Program
University of Miami Cooperative Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Science
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration


N. Besemer, A. Palacio, M. Jankulak, G. Kolodziej, I. Enochs - July 2021


About this summary brief

The NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) conducts the long-term National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) to track the status and trends of coral reef ecosystems of the U.S. Atlantic and Caribbean coral reef jurisdictions. This FY21 summary brief provides an overview of the most recent survey efforts.

Expedition summary


Data collection


Figure 1: Map of study sites in Dry Tortugas National Park area


Temperature

Three years of temperature measurements were retrieved and processed from all 4 sites (depths). Temperature was measured using SeaBird Electronics Subsurface Temperature Recorders (STR)s that collected data at 5-minute intervals.

Figure 2: Temperature conditions at four sites in the Dry Tortugas representing a depth gradient: Pulaski Shoal Lighthouse (1m) White Shoal (5m), Bird Key Reef (15m), and Black Coral Rock (25m). Data were collected from November 2018 to June 2021, with the exception of the 25m STR that recorded until February 7th 2020.

Temperature values were similar among the 1m, 5m and 15m depths with the lowest temperatures recorded during February 2021 (20.8, 20.7, and 19.9 \(^\circ\)C, respectively) and the the higest temperatures during the summer of 2019 and 2020 (31.7, 31.6, and 31.5 \(^\circ\)C, respectively). Though the 25m STR stopped recording on February 7, 2020, it detected consistent temperature stratification at this site during the summers when it was active. Temperatures were XX to YY \(^\circ\)C below the values at other depths.


Diurnal Suite Deployment

At Bird Key Reef additional instruments were deployed for a 72-hour diurnal suite that monitored pH, temperature, light and current speed. The SeaFET pH logger, EcoPAR and Tiltmeter collected measurements at 5-minute intervals.

Figure 3: Bird Key Reef (15m) diurnal suite monitoring from June 25th to 28th. Top panel: pH and temperature from SeaFET. Bottom panel: Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR) and current speed from EcoPAR and Tiltmeter. Grey blocks denote night time throughout sequence of the plot. Instruments measured parameters every 5 minutes.

As part of the diurnal suite, discrete water samples were collected at three-hour intervals (n=24) using Subsurface Automatic Samplers (SAS). These samples will be analyzed for Total Alkalinity (TA), Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC), and Spectrophotometric pH (SpecpH). Using these metrics we can get the calculated values for pCO2 and aragonite saturation state. For more information on SAS vist https://www.coral.noaa.gov/accrete/sas/

Submergered Automated Samplers (SAS) deployed to collect water samples every 3 hours

Submergered Automated Samplers (SAS) deployed to collect water samples every 3 hours


Other Deliverables

  • Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs) and Bioerosion Monitoring Units (BMUs) were collected and redeployed for the next sampling cycle. CAUs are processed by the Pacific Climate group and the data will be available within a year. BMUs will be dried and cleaned using a hydrogen peroxide solution. These samples will be weighed and scanned using a Macro CT scanner and then compared to their pre-scans to quantify bioerosion. Data will be available in a year. Please reference previous datasets for more information.
CAU and BMU pair before retreval after being deployed for 3 years. CAUs are 2 parallel PVC plates to quantify settled accretors. BMU is mounted coral skeleton installed at the base of the metal stake and has been encrusted.

CAU and BMU pair before retreval after being deployed for 3 years. CAUs are 2 parallel PVC plates to quantify settled accretors. BMU is mounted coral skeleton installed at the base of the metal stake and has been encrusted.

  • Landscape mosaics (n=6) and carbonate budget surveys (n=6) were completed to monitor changes in benthic cover and carbonate production
Scientist Nathan Formel collects images to create the orthorectified landscape mosaics

Scientist Nathan Formel collects images to create the orthorectified landscape mosaics


About the monitoring program

AOML’s climate monitoring is a key part of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), providing integrated, consistent, and comparable data across U.S. Managed coral reef ecosystems. CRCP monitoring efforts aim to:

Point of Contact

Atlantic Climate team lead:

Principal Investigator:

NCRMP Coordinator:

For more information

Coral Reef Conservation Program: http://coralreef.noaa.gov

NCRMP climate monitoring: https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/climate.html

NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/

Florida Coral Reef Status Report 2020

National Coral Reef Status Report 2020

Acknowledgements

These efforts were jointly funded by NOAA’s CRCP and OAP. We would like to thank the National Park Service and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary for permitting support and the ANGARI Foundation for field support.

Our Team

Field team members: Anderson Mayfield, Graham Kolodziej, Nicole Besemer, Nathan Formel, Patrick Kiel

Additional lab members involved with NCRMP: Ian Enochs, Benjamin Chomitz, Albert Boyd, Mike Jankulak, Ana Palacio